Microbial Bioprocessing Team Leader

Our Site:

Jealott's Hill International Research Centre is situated in pleasant semi-rural surroundings between Bracknell and Maidenhead and is the place of work for approximately 800 Syngenta scientists and support staff. Jealott’s Hill is one of the main global research and development sites and key activities include research into discovery of new active ingredients, new formulation technologies, product safety, technical support of our product range.

Biologicals Research:

Biological technologies are expected to deliver a significant contribution to the future of agriculture alongside conventional technologies. Microbial biologicals will play an important role in the development of these novel products for growers. We have opportunities within the Biologicals Research group focusing on microbial discovery and bioprocess development for biological products. The primary objective is the screening and characterisation of a wide variety of microbes followed by the development and optimisation of upstream (fermentation) and downstream bioprocesses.

We have an opportunity for an operations team leader for the Microbial Bioprocessing (Fermentation) team including Upstream and Downstream processing for Biologicals, based at Jealott’s Hill. 

You will be managing a team of scientists responsible for the delivery of fermented products in support of a wide range of research activities including microbial biologicals, protein test substance production, natural products and bioscience.  In addition, a fundamental team responsibility is early bioprocess R&D for future microbial biocontrol production at industrial scales.

Working closely with the team, you will be the primary point of contact for production requests and will manage the scheduling of activities including the planning of fermentation batches at all scales in the inhouse facilities.

You will oversee the management of the facilities with support from lab stewards and bioprocess scientists, maintaining and adopting cutting edge technologies.  Good contact with onsite services, maintenance support and external vendors, as well as a continuous improvement mindset will be critical to success.

You will be supported by experienced bioprocess scientists with USP and DSP skills, with opportunity to learn about these areas of science, enabling good decision making and giving sound directions.

You will maintain close contact with all lab based activities and be able to actively participate in experimentation, facility maintenance and troubleshooting as the need arises.

Critical success factors:

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with ability to deal effectively with staff at all levels within the organization
• Excellent organisation, planning and prioritisation skills for self and team
• An ability to manage and motivate a team, and effectively manage the workload
• An ability to build and maintain an effective team with shared aims and cohesion, offering team members scientific and personal professional development opportunities, by effective use of the performance management system
• Have high quality standards and the ability to maintain these in others to ensure all HSE and procedural requirents are met

Qualifications/experience/capabilities:

• BSc/MSc/PhD plus industrial experience
• General laboratory experience with a focus on quality
• Experience of leading and developing teams & people
• Knowledge of bioprocessing & biotechnology is an advantage.  However, we are open to candidates with leadership experience that are looking for a new challenge (the successful candidate can be supported with training and familiarisation in the role)
• Experience with electronic data systems and the ability to implement or initiate improvements for higher quality scientific output and learning

 In return for your skills and knowledge Syngenta will offer:

• Campus environment
• Competitive benefits package
• Up to 31.5 days holiday per annum
• The opportunity to work with and learn from highly qualified and experienced employees

We embrace and encourage diversity, and this is what drives our innovation and lets us outperform the market. https://www.syngenta.com/careers/working-syngenta/diversity-and-inclusion

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Syngenta is a leading science-based agritech company, dedicated to bringing plant potential to life. Each of our 30,000 employees in more than 90 countries work together to solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: growing more food with fewer resources. A diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace environment are enablers of our ambition to be the most collaborative and trusted team in agriculture.

Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us and help shape the future of agriculture.